Quinn Kaehler flourishing as SDSU's QB

The Bay Area native came to SDSU as a walk-on. He heads home this week as the entrenched starter

San Diego State quarterback Quinn Kaehler throws a pass while playing Fresno State during the first half in an NCAA college football game Saturday, Oct. 26, 2013, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
— AP

San Diego State quarterback Quinn Kaehler throws a pass while playing Fresno State during the first half in an NCAA college football game Saturday, Oct. 26, 2013, in San Diego. (AP Photo/Gregory Bull)
/ AP

When Quinn Kaehler left the Bay Area in January for San Diego State, he joined the Aztecs for spring drills knowing he’d start out as the No. 6 quarterback.

The under-the-radar walk-on was a long shot to make the travel squad – much less the two deep.

But how quickly things can change.

Eleven months later, Kaehler, a San Ramon native, returns to northern California this Saturday to lead his team against San Jose State at Spartan Stadium as the Aztecs’ starting quarterback.

It’s been a storybook year for Kaehler, the kid who once tried to walk on to the SDSU football team as a freshman only to be turned away.

Looking back on that experience now, the junior quarterback sees it as a necessary moment in the narrative of his life.

“I feel like I’ve grown so much from the time I was in high school,” Kaehler said this week. I don’t think I was as good as I thought or that I was really ready for Division I at the time. I really needed to go through some of the things I did to be here.”

After playing in a run-heavy offense at California High School, Kaehler only soared as a quarterback during his two years in the pass-oriented spread at Diablo Valley College.

That’s where he learned to read defenses and hone his decision-making skills – the two qualities the Aztecs’ coaches rave about most frequently today.

“There are quarterbacks that favor receivers so much they throw it to them when they shouldn’t,” SDSU coach Rocky Long said. “I think Quinn does a nice job going through his reads. I don’t think he has a favorite receiver.”

With him distributing the ball, SDSU’s passing game is finally taking shape.

Junior receiver Ezell Ruffin has compiled three-straight 100-yard games, Kaehler is 36th nationally with a pass efficiency rating of 158.9, and the Aztecs (4-4 overall, 3-1 Mountain West) are on track to finish with more than 3,000 passing yards – which would equal or surpass their production from Ryan Lindley’s senior year in 2011.

Kaehler has made steady improvement under center since he took over the starting quarterback job from Adam Dingwell during Game 2 at Ohio State.

He’s made such a difference at the position that by his third start against Nevada, offensive coordinator Bob Toledo had reinstated all the quarterback decision-making duties that he stripped out of the offense after the season opener, when Dingwell struggled to perform against Eastern Illinois.

After that first game, instead of allowing his quarterback to change plays according to what he saw at the line of scrimmage, Toledo took a more conservative approach and instructed Dingwell to just run the play as called.

“We tried to simplify things,” Toledo said. “And we later went back to doing it the way we’ve always done it.”

The Aztecs now have a “check with me” system, in which Toledo gives Kaehler two plays and the quarterback makes a decision based on what he sees from the defense on the field pre-snap.

“He’s been right every time,” Toledo said. “He’s really bright. He changes our protections, puts us in the right positions… He has a great understanding of what we’re doing.”

Kaehler said his time at Diablo Valley was good training for what he now has to do in the Aztecs’ offense.

“In my junior college, we threw the ball so much that I had to be involved in every single play,” Kaehler said. “I had to know what coverage they were in, and my coaches have always done a really good job of teaching me (to be) aware of what the defense is trying to do.”

His decision making skills will be put to the test against the Spartans (5-3, 4-1), who have ILB Keith Smith, the nation’s No. 1 tackler, anchoring the defense, and preseason Chuck Bednarik Award candidate Bene Benwikere lurking in the secondary at left cornerback.

Benwikere has intercepted the last three quarterbacks who’ve dared to challenge him, and he’ll be waiting for Kaehler to slip up.

But the quarterback is intent on just playing his game. If there’s one thing Kaehler has learned from the Oregon State game – in which he threw two interceptions, including a pick-six, in the last 2:40, it’s that you have to always play loose.

“With the way (the Beavers) were coming back, how good their offense had been, I felt like we had to get first downs and had to push the ball. I was probably pushing too hard,” Kaehler said. “I just feel like I was probably too tight at the end of the game, and not just letting it go and having fun.”

That was, however, his first start. Five games later, Kaehler has settled into his offense, and now he’s just having fun.

“I’m really starting to enjoy each of the games now,” Kaehler said, and then smiled. “More so the ones that we win.”